"There Happened to Be a Man in the Land of Uz," poetry

First Edition: LukivPress Online (Quesnel, BC), 2013.

Revised Edition: LukivPress (Victoria, BC), 2022.

Introduction

A masterpiece of literature! some people say about Job, which covers over 160 years (1657 to 1473 BCE), and addresses questions that have perplexed many for thousands of years: Why does God allow good people to suffer? Why does he allow wickedness to exist? Can mere humans truly maintain integrity towards God, in spite of overwhelming adversity? Satan, who displays arrogance and presumptuousness right in heaven during two angelic assemblies, sets up plans to trip Job (living in a land called Uz, now part of Arabia). At the same time Satan implies that the only reason people worship Jehovah is for selfish gain. Does Job prove Satan a liar? Yes! How? Although drowning in pain and anguish, and actually thinking his adversity comes from the hand of Jehovah, Job refuses to abandon his resolve to live a life of integrity and worship to his God. But his preoccupation with defending his own righteousness, rather than his God's, reveals one flaw in his otherwise exemplary character.

An excerpt

Chapters 11 and 20

O gentle Zophar,

Did you mean Job was hollow

Like stone footings without

A house,

Or a cave empty except for

Things that creep,

Did you mean Job was ridiculous

Like a zebra in heat,

Or a wild ass lost in The Ghor,

Or Hagar's obstinate son?

O gentle Zopar,

Did the lips of your heart

Speak these things into

Your prayers?

The author

Dan Lukiv, published in 19 countries, is a poet, novelist, columnist, short story and article writer, and independent education researcher (hermeneutic phenomenology). As a creative writer, he apprenticed with Canada's Professor Robert Harlow (recipient of the George Woodcock Achievement award for an outstanding literary career), the USA's Paul Bagdon (Spur Award finalist for Best Original Paperback), and England's D. M. Thomas (recipient of the Cheltenham Prize for Literature, Orwell Prize [biography], Los Angeles Fiction Prize, and Cholmondeley award for poetry). He attended The University of British Columbia (creative writing department), the acclaimed Humber School for Writers (poetry writing program), and Writer's Digest University (novel writing program).